Blue Venus

Five years ago, blueVenus played a sold-out CD release show at the Drake Underground in Toronto. blueVenus not only delivered a captivating performance, but were about to make a legitimate mark on Canada's music scene. The next day the heart of the band - two newly married Berklee College grads, founder singer/songwriter/violinist Andrea de Boer and guitarist/co-songwriter Devrim Eldelekli - left for Germany. What they didn't know was that for the next two years they would be living on two different continents courtesy of some mean, outdated immigration regulations.

Making the best of a bad situation blueVenus scrounged up funds to reunite briefly; for love, and to share a bill with Garbage and Megadeth at Rock Istanbul, tour Germany, and garner rave reviews. Their live show has been described as "Hypnotic and Impressive" (Frankfurter Allegemeine) and their self-titled debut CD which was produced Juno Award winner by L. Stu Young (Prince) was dubbed "One of the best albums I have heard in a long time" (Guitarre&Bass).

Upon returning to Canada Andrea suffered the sudden loss of a close friend and found herself in another kafka-esque maze of beauracracy, featuring constant harrassment from a collections agency, thanks to a data glitch in her student loan file. "I was given a lot of lemons," says Andrea of the ordeal. "What you don't hear about so much is how sick of lemonade you can become."

When Devrim was able to return to Canada, the couple had to make strides to patch up their personal and professional lives. The result: “Best Live Acoustic Act” and “Best Female Fronted Band” nominations for the 2006-07 Toronto Independent Music Awards, showcases at NXNE 2007, NewMusicWest 2007, CMW 2008, Big Rock Battle of the Bands Finalists and an Ontario Arts Council grant to help with the production of a full length CD album.

It was at CMW 2008 where Casablanca Media's Amy Eligh caught blueVenus's showcase. She would later invite Andrea to a writer's retreat where Andrea would meet Juno award-winning writer/producer Matt DeMatteo.

Lemonade was made, and shaped the writing of Grin - blueVenus' brand new full length CD produced by the acclaimed DeMatteo (Mobile, Big Wreck, Esthero). With the CD title song's subtle latin violin pizz intro and the horn build-up to the reprise "Everyone will say life gave you a lemon you've just got to grin" speaks of the white lies we all use to avoid sharing our grief which, incidentally, you can do while dancing. "In Between" marries the post 9/11 desperation of those caught in the middle with a "Low Rider" feel and belting Jazz vocal tones. The smokey intro to "No Time To Waste" builds into a near classic soul song a la "Hey Jude" complete with cheering horns. "Ohrwurm" marries a late 60's pop/rock sensibility with bilingual lyrics, and a German rap.